One Piece: Lord of Calamity

Roa flew through the sky, clutching a Barrett. He soared above a large fortress nestled in a mountain pass. This was a stronghold of Barrett's faction's enemies, the very place where the opposing army, with whom Barrett and his allies had clashed, was stationed.

"Ready, Barrett?" Roa asked.

"Reporting! Ready for deployment!" Despite flying hundreds of meters high, Barrett's face remained unfazed. Though only seven years old, he was currently the second strongest seven-year-old in the world!

"Remember to elementalize," Roa said, then promptly dropped Barrett from the sky.

Feeling the wind whistle past his ears and watching the ground rush closer, a brilliant smile spread across Barrett's young yet battle-hardened face. He had realized long ago that every time he went to battle, he felt a genuine thrill!

"Barrett, attack!"

The boy's body abruptly melted, transforming into a silvery-white liquid. The next instant, Boom! The heavy mercury mass slammed directly into the central plaza of the fortress, creating a gaping hole in the sturdy ground. Dust and smoke billowed everywhere.

"What happened?" The soldiers inside the fortress instantly went on alert. "Air raid?"

Before they could react, a dark shadow shot out from the smoke. Barrett observed the panicking enemy soldiers. With a thought, his fists transformed into mercury spheres. He then spun and delivered a punch to an enemy. Though mercury was a liquid, amplified by speed and mass, it unleashed astonishing power. The enemy's body twisted from the impact, hardly even letting out a wail before being sent flying.

My punches are so powerful! Barrett was filled with wonder, like a child who had just received a new toy.

Then make them bigger! He directly transformed both his fists to a meter in size and instinctively swung at an enemy. But these enormous fists were too heavy; he missed the enemy and stumbled himself.

At this moment, the enemies also reacted. "There's only one enemy! Kill him!" an officer commanded.

Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Bang! Intense gunfire erupted. Barrett's heart instinctively panicked. Damn it, I'm off balance, I can't dodge! He was riddled with bullets.

"Huh?" Barrett, now steady on his feet again, looked down at his body. It doesn't hurt at all! Bullets were being squeezed out of the silvery-gray holes in his body. "Oh, right! I can elementalize!" Lord Roa had told him about his ability on the way here!

What is there to fear then? Barrett's smile widened. He locked onto the enemy officer commanding from the second floor of the fortress. "Die!" He exerted his right fist, flinging the giant mercury fist forward.

"What?!" The officer had no time to react and was sent flying by the mercury projectile, crashing heavily into the wall behind him, blood splattering.

"I can do that too!" Barrett's eyes lit up, discovering a new trick. He continuously swung his fists, launching large mercury spheres. Their speed wasn't particularly fast, but combined with their weight, they could easily smash through walls, and every enemy hit was flattened.

However, "Hoo—hoo—" Barrett's breathing became ragged. This was too exhausting.

In that case... Having grown up surrounded by battlefields and weapons, Barrett quickly had a new idea. "Mercury Gatling!" His hands transformed into the shape of Gatling guns. The next moment, Da da da da! Finger-sized mercury bullets flew out. Enemy soldiers fell like harvested wheat, one after another.

"Hahahaha! All of you, die!" Barrett roared with laughter, utterly thrilled by the slaughter.

"It's an ability user! Conceal yourselves! Everyone, hide!" The enemy soldiers also realized his terror. Neither guns, cannons, nor swords had any effect! How were they supposed to deal with an enemy like this?

"Trying to hide?" Barrett took a deep breath. "Try this!" White, almost translucent mist instantly spread from his body, sweeping like a gale throughout the fortress.

Naturally, the first to experience pain were the enemies closer to Barrett. The boiling point of mercury is over three hundred degrees Celsius, and its extreme temperature can reach over a thousand degrees, comparable to magma. This was not a force ordinary people could resist.

"Ahhh! Ahhh!" Horrifying screams instantly spread from within the mist, making the scalps of the other soldiers in the fortress tingle. The unfortunate soldiers were scalded to death before they could even succumb to the mercury poisoning.

"Monster! It's a monster!" Finally, the soldiers completely collapsed, throwing down their weapons and trying to flee. But how could they defeat such an enemy? This wasn't an enemy they were meant to face.

However, "No one is escaping!" Barrett knew no mercy. In his worldview, enemies were to be annihilated. He completely transformed into steam, moving through the fortress like the wind, with more mercury vapor surging from his body. Finally, a semi-transparent mist enveloped the entire fortress, and the screams gradually faded away.

Roa lightly landed on top of the fortress, taking a deep breath. "A very suitable ability for cooking, Barrett." Delicious, no need to say more! "Barrett, how do you feel?" Roa asked leisurely.

The swirling steam coalesced, and Barrett's figure appeared in the mist. "Reporting! I feel great!"

"Good," Roa also thought it was good. This guy Barrett adapted to his ability very quickly.

Soon, Gray and Dylan arrived in a hurry. Seeing the piles of corpses throughout the fortress, even the well-traveled Dylan couldn't help but sigh in his heart. He was already an extraordinary kid, but after gaining a Logia-type ability, he had completely evolved into a monstrous child.

"Did Barrett really do all this alone?" Douglas Gray, who had been badly beaten by a punch earlier and looked quite weak, was now flushed with excitement. "Excellent! This fortress was the most difficult to attack and defend! Now that it's fallen, our army can push straight through!"

"Hmm?" Roa, having returned to his human form, turned around. "You mean this fortress is that important?"

"Yes, Lord Roa!" Gray's face was filled with gratitude. "Thank you so much! Perhaps the civil war, which has lasted for decades, will finally end because of this!"

"How can that be?" Roa immediately said with a serious expression, "We are merely guests. How can we interfere with the internal affairs of this island?"

"Eh?" Gray looked a bit bewildered.

"How about this, for balance," Roa looked at Gray, and the color of his pupils and whites of his eyes suddenly reversed, "do you want to become the king of this island?"

King? Gray's ambition surged irresistibly. Yes, if I can get Lord Roa's support, how hard could it be to rule this entire island? I want it, I want it, I want to be king!

"Excellent eyes," Roa said with a smile. "In that case, the first step is to get rid of your immediate superior and take power yourself."

That's right! As long as I get rid of the old geezers above me, I can take power! The black in Gray's eyes grew denser, and his expression gradually became manic. "I understand, Lord Roa, I finally understand what I need to do!" My enemies aren't the opposing army! Getting promoted by killing the enemy is too slow! The enemy is in the rear!

"Good." The anomaly in Roa's eyes receded. "Go do what you must."

"Yes!" The darkness in Gray's eyes also gradually dissipated, but the excitement on his face remained undiminished. For those with weak wills, even the neutered version of malevolent manipulation in human form was enough to cause irreversible effects on their will. Making good people evil, and evil people insane, was as easy as turning over one's hand for Roa.

Gray ran off excitedly.

"Then, it's time for us to find a place to settle down," Roa said.

"Don't we need to conquer this island?" Dylan asked.

"Oh, don't be so unfriendly; we are guests," Roa said with a smile. "This country is already quite good; what right do we have to change it?"

"Understood."

And so, Roa officially settled in this country. Six years passed in the blink of an eye. The current year was Sea Calendar 1490.